Sitting judges to be interviewed before promotion to a higher court
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Helen McEntee
Sitting judges seeking promotion to a higher court will have to undergo an interview under the government’s proposed reform of the judicial appointments process.
The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022, which was published today, will introduce the most significant reforms to the judicial appointments process since the establishment of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) in 1995.
It will replace JAAB with a Judicial Appointments Commission of nine members, four of which will be lay members, chaired by the Chief Justice – unlike the proposed 2017 bill which would have created a commission with a lay chair and lay majority.
The draft bill includes a number of changes compared with the general scheme published last December, namely:
- Three people will be recommended for a single vacancy instead of five, and an additional two recommendations for a second and additional vacancies (e.g. seven recommendations for three vacancies).
- Only persons recommended by the Judicial Appointments Commission can be recommended by the government for appointment by the president.
- Any person, including new applicants and serving judges seeking promotion to higher courts, who is to be recommended by the government for appointment should have been interviewed by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
- The Judicial Appointments Commission will be required to publish a diversity statement committing to the objective that membership of the judiciary should reflect the diversity of the population as a whole.
- Candidates will be required to show they have undertaken judicial training or continuous professional development (CPD).
Some of the changes were introduced following consultation with the Attorney General, the European Commission and the Chief Justice, the Department of Justice said.
Justice minister Helen McEntee said: “In the hundred years since the foundation of the State, our judges and our judiciary have served us extremely well. In proposing this legislation, I hope that it will enable the continued appointment of excellence judges which are a cornerstone of a strong, independent judiciary.”
She added: “I look forward to working with all members of the Houses of the Oireachtas to bring this legislation to enactment as soon as possible.”
Earlier this week, Mrs McEntee published her Justice Plan 2022, which sets out her ambition to enact the bill by the end of September 2022.
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